February 20 – Cherry Pie Day

Happy Cherry Pie Day!

Yes, please! A slice for you and a slice for me!

How to Make a Cherry Pie and See the USA written and illustrated by Marjorie Priceman (2008)

The same lovable girl and her dog who took us around the world to make an apple pie in 1994, are back to show us how to make a cherry pie and see the United States. This time she has all the necessary ingredients: flour, salt, shortening, butter, water, sugar, and cherries. What she needs are the utensils. And of course, the Cook Shop is closed for the 4th of July celebration. So she takes us to the coal mines for steel to make the pie pan, Louisiana for the cotton to make pot holders, New Mexico for the clay to make a mixing bowl, Washington for the branch to carve a rolling pin, Hawaii to pick up sand to make the glass measuring cup, New Hampshire for the granite to make a pastry slab, and Texas to get some oil to make the plastic measuring spoons. She also makes a few quick stops in South Dakota to visit the presidents at Mount Rushmore, and Alaska just because it’s there. After she makes all her utensils and makes the pie she joins in the 4th of July parade holding All-American Cherry pie!

Cherry Pies and Lullabies written and illustrated by Lynn Reiser (1998)

Four generations are connected by things that are the same but different. Great-grandmother baked a cherry pie for Grandmother. Grandmother baked a cherry pie for Mother. Mother baked a cherry pie for the little girl. And the little girl baked a cherry pie for her teddy bear. Each one was a little different from the others, but they were all the same passed down from one generation to another. She writes about other things that were passed down in her family that were the same but different: flowers in their hair, quilts, and lullabies.

Cherries and Cherry Pits written and illustrated by Vera B. Williams (1986)

Bidemmi is an artist. She loves to draw pictures with her markers and tell stories for each picture. First she draws a man in the subway holding a little white bag. As she draws, she tells the story of the man coming home to his four children and giving them each a cherry. Then she draws a picture of an old woman sitting on the train with her purse in her lap. Inside her purse she draws a brown paper bag. As she draws she tells the story of the woman who goes home to her one room apartment and her pet parrot. She pours cherries out of the bag into a geranium pot and shares them with her parrot. Bidemmi has a story for each one of her pictures. Finally, she draws a picture of herself buying cherries from the back of a pick-up truck. Then she plants all the pits and soon a cherry tree grows from one of the pits. And she shares all the cherries with her friends and neighbors.